Blogs from The Highlands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

The battlefield was really fun. They gave mum and dad a G.P.S. (this gave us info around the battle field site) but it was an adult one. Hamish, Jo, Zara, Oiver, and me got a kids one and it told us lots about the battlefield. I was the one that got there first then Zara then Jo and then my mum had to go back and help dad because dads one was telling him that he was some were else. That crazy thing. When I was finished there was a hill and I rolled down it. It was so fun then when I did it again I did a backward rolly polly and I hurt my neck (but it is OK now). We learnt a lot of new things. Did you know that the Jacobites started ... read more

Halloween is the time of year where everyone dresses up as anything. Last night we went trick or treating. Mum decided to get us some costumes from a store in Fort William that stocked Halloween gear and she cleared out the whole store. It was a massive clear out, like 35 pence for an amazing broom stick and for some fake teeth it was 10 pence. Everything was half, half and half off all costumes and accessories. When we got to our house we decorated our face with black and red face paint and got dressed up as devils or witches or zombies or even vampires. I went as a witch and decorated my face with black and red face paint and I got dressed in a huge plastic cape and a big witch’s hat. I ... read more

We departed from Manchester early Friday morning. We had decided to walk up to the car hire depot we had booked from Australia, to avoid driving back through town. This would have been fine if we had a better map and Manchester decided to label their roads. We went off track and overshot the cross road by about a km. After stuffing in bags and children into a “7-seater” car we took off up the road. After a few snappy words later between the driver and navigator we made it out of Manchester and headed north. Our first stop was Windermere. Windermere is a very busy tourist town especially during the last weekend of the school holidays. The town reminded us of a cross between Blue Mountains, Kangaroo Valley and towns on the south coast of ... read more

We drove home with an overnight stop in Temple Sowerby. Here are a few photos to reflect the third and final stage of our break. Thanks to all our readers. Perhaps we'll have another sabbatical next year. ... read more

Near Glenelg, there are larger brochs than the one above Loch Alsh. Two in particular are so well preserved that you gain an instant impression of the size and layout from two thousand years ago. Tapering tower-like structures, set in a sheltered valley near a stream, they still have stone staircases and the remains of floors at upper levels. These are visible most clearly in the cavity between the two stone skins of the walls. From the information on signs at each site, it seems that there were brochs in Northern Scotland and on the Shetland Isles. It's thought that there were specialists who travelled around the region building them, and that the size of these two indicates that they were occupied by people of high social status. The signs show domestic scenes, with families gathered ... read more